Generating 3D Models of Paintings through the Combination of 2D, 3D and RTI Data

The National Gallery in London has recently been testing the potential of 3D scanning technology to record and measure the surface of paintings. To view and interact with the high-resolution scans requires expensive computational hardware. The proposed workflow borrows some of the techniques used in the gaming industry to provide a computationally efficient interactive interface, even suitable for online viewing. The workflow synergises multiple imaging techniques, and therefore provides better texture representation than 3D scanning alone. The process provides a new way of visualising possible relations across paint layers by combining normal maps with existing image based techniques.